Thank you so much <3
I think the biggest issue was all the time I lost after he told me he is leaving because I thought it was the end and just gave up. It wasn't until 6h later that my friend told me I should finish it regardless (which I'm so happy I did!).
Yeah, the game is way too hard, and I think the fact that the "art" isn't helping was an additional level of complexity the player needed to navigate. I plan on updating the game with "proper" art (if you can call my drawings art lol), and actually taking time to construct the tutorial and general design part of the game so it is easier to digest (like you said).
I honestly wasn't expecting a single person to play this, and to receive such positive feedback is really giving me the motivation to keep pushing forward solo.
I can't thank you enough!